Chapter 7
Caroline arrived home later that evening, exhausted from the day’s events. She set the hard drive carefully on the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of water. While drinking it, she grabbed the remote and flicked on her television.
The news was on. “Police and investigators have discovered the source of this morning’s massive viral assault that resulted in several thousand homes and businesses being left without computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.”
Caroline went into her bathroom, still listening to the news, to examine her face in the mirror. It was bruised, but it would heal. She washed her face off with some cold water.
The newscaster continued: “Police say that the virus had no system in place to prevent its source from being tracked, making it easy to find those responsible. They credited their quick action to digital security measures put into place to combat the recent rise in cyber-terrorism. Police say Daniel Kenry, a man suspected of other cyber-terrorist operations including the M.E.E.R. break-in, was found at the origin of the virus along with the corpse of an unidentified male.”
Caroline dug through her closet as she listened. She had not used what was in here in a long time and had thought she never would again, but circumstances had changed. She had changed. When she finally found it, she carefully blew the dust off of the old laptop.
The newscaster finished the report: “Kenry is facing multiple charges potentially including attempted homicide as the virus caused a number of hospitals to suffer operational issues and power outages. If convicted he could face up to life in prison. According to experts the virus appears to be incomplete and it was unable to cause any permanent damage. Authorities have assured us that it should no longer be a danger.”
Caroline grabbed the hard drive from the counter and turned off the television as she sat down on her couch. She flipped open the laptop and pushed the power button, worried that it would not even turn on. Despite concerns, the machine’s internal fan began to hum as the system booted up and displayed the desktop screen. Carefully, she plugged the hard drive into the side of her laptop. It took a moment, but the hard drive’s icon appeared as an option in her ‘My Computer’ window.
As Caroline double-clicked on the drive and browsed through the files it contained, she found almost all of them were photos of her and Jack together, letters they had exchanged over the years and other mementoes of their relationship. She felt her tears start to come back again as she looked over all of the memories.
At last Caroline reached the very bottom of the file list and ran into a file that was different from the rest. It was simply labeled ‘J’. She double clicked on the file.
The laptop’s fan began to buzz a bit faster as the computer struggled to open the file. After a few seconds, the screen turned to black and there was nothing. Then, in an instant, a face with a familiar pair of blue eyes was staring out from the screen.
Jack smirked as he looked at Caroline. “It took you long enough, sweetheart. Do you have any idea how cramped it was in that hard drive?”
The added sarcasm brought nothing short of a smile to Caroline’s face.
###
About the author:
Finnian Valko is a secretive individual only known by his penname in the literary world. His first book, A Different Sort of Life, marks his first entry in what he hopes to be a long line of thought provoking tales that readers will find interesting and captivating. He hopes you have enjoyed reading it and that you will look forward to his follow-up book: Fusion.
Contact him online:
Live journal: https://finnianvalko.livejournal.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinnianValko
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